Celebrating the 21st anniversary ofBill Emerson Good Samaritan Act

The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act was created to encourage food donation to nonprofit organizations by minimizing liability. Signed into United States law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, this law, named after Representative Bill Emerson (who encouraged the proposal but died before it was passed), makes it easier to donate 'apparently wholesome food' by excluding donor liability except in cases of gross negligence. See the law text.

After the initial publicity around the bill passing into law, the protections provided in the bill were widely forgotten and its benefits to businesses have been underutilized. According to a study by the Food Waste Reduction Alliance in 2013, 54% of businesses in the retail and whole sale sector expressed that liability is a barrier to donating. However, according to the Legal Guide to the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, by the University of Arkansas School of Law, “…a thorough search of filings and reported decisions did not turn up a single case that involved food donation-related liability or any attempts to get around the protections offered by the Bill Emerson Act. Additionally, several leading food recovery experts and anti-hunger advocates report that they are unaware of any such actual or threatened lawsuits.”

2017 EMIES Awards!

In continued celebration of the Good Samaritan Act, San Diego Food System Alliance is now accepting applicants for the 2017 EMIES Unwasted Food awards for businesses, organizations, and institutions with exemplary practices around prevention/ source reduction, food recovery and donation, feeding people, feeding animals, and composting/ recycling. EMIES applications are due Friday September 1st by 5:00 pm.

Culinart Group and Francis Parker School SourceReduction:Inventorycontrol,frequentordering,smallerplatesize,andweeklymenuplanningthatcreativelyusesleftovers.Donation:WeeklydonationstoSanDiegoRescueMission.Recycling:Pre-consumerandplatewastegotoMiramarGreenery.